


Interlude

by Gorgeous Nerd (gorgeousnerd)



Category: Fringe
Genre: Coda, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-09
Updated: 2011-02-09
Packaged: 2017-10-15 13:33:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/161292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gorgeousnerd/pseuds/Gorgeous%20Nerd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>"This would be simple," Olivia says. "For a change."</i> A 3x12 coda.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Interlude

**Author's Note:**

> Also on [LJ](http://community.livejournal.com/chomalfoyfics/41269.html) and [DW](http://firmament.dreamwidth.org/34362.html).
> 
> I used this story as an example in a [fic-to-ebook guide](http://gorgeousnerd.dreamwidth.org/1463635.html), so as well as the ebook options on AO3, you can also download a [.pdf](http://www.mediafire.com/?d1n33hthux61d71) and [.mobi](http://www.mediafire.com/?ji4auugo0r4v99p) I created via Mediafire.

The cabin and the surrounding woods are just at quiet at night as it is during the day. Simon greets her from the door frame, leaning with a tired smile on his face.

"You read it," he said.

Olivia aches like she ran into a wall a few times. As she moves, she's surprised the bare parts of her skin don't show bruises. But she remembers how easily the other Olivia smiles, and she musters something similar. "I thought you couldn't read me."

"I can't hear you," Simon says as she climbs the steps. He steps away to let Olivia walk inside. "But you're not hard to read."

The interior looks different at night. Golden light softens the wooden beams in the walls and reflects off the darkness from the windows, casting the room in a warm glow. Her shoulders drop the slightest bit as she sinks onto the couch, and Simon, still a little hunched, takes a chair opposite.

"You don't need me to save the world again, do you?" he asks.

Olivia shakes her head. "I want someone to talk to."

"Talking I can do." He reaches for a medicine bottle on the table, but even as he unscrews the cap and tosses out a couple pills onto his palm, his face is turned toward her. "But something tells me I can't tell you what you want to hear."

He swallows the pills as she rubs her hands on her jeans. The friction makes her hands hot, but it takes effort to stop, and she's too still without it. She thinks when she doesn't move.

She stands. "You know what? I shouldn't have bothered you. I'm sorry."

"No, don't be." Simon stands, a little slower than she does. His eyes are soft and kind. "It's nice to see you without the crowds."

"It is?"

"You sound surprised."

Olivia shrugs. "I guess I shouldn't be. If I were around a loud stereo all the time, I might like a little quiet."

The happiness in Simon's face melts away, and his eyes dart around the room. "I haven't seen anyone who, who knows. You can do things, can't you?"

Not enough. "I've done things, yes."

"So you know what it's like."

Olivia shakes her head. "I don't have to live with it all the time."

"Don't you?"

She opens her mouth, but nothing comes out.

He holds out a hand. "Don't think you're bothering me out here. Because you're not."

She takes his hand and shakes it once, but she doesn't withdraw right away. She's noticing how Simon looks, now that he isn't in as much pain, and she sees a hint of his earlier smile as he drags his thumb across the back of her palm. A shiver dances through her body, and she closes her eyes and lets it happen.

Simon takes his hand back before she opens her eyes. "Sorry, that was..."

As she exhales, she meets his eyes. "It's okay."

"I don't want to complicate things."

Olivia steps forward and rests her hand on Simon's arm. It's his turn to close his eyes and sigh, and a genuine smile touches her lips.

"This would be simple," she says. "For a change. What about you?"

He laughs without humor. "Things that don't exist aren't complicated."

Olivia leans in. Simon smells like the cabin, woodsy with the barest hint of the moisture from outside. He closes the distance, and their lips touch, hesitant at first, but Olivia increases the pressure and wraps her arms around his shoulders, and Simon responds in kind.

As they progress from kissing to undressing, and from undressing to Simon's bed, Olivia directs them both. It's no surprise that Simon doesn't seem quite sure of what he's doing, but he's more than willing to let her lead, and it's enough. She finds herself relaxing in places she didn't know were tense, and her mind empties until she's nothing but sensation.

He finishes first, and after she lets him help her the rest of the way, they lay tangled together in the golden lamplight.

Olivia breathes onto the windowpane next to the bed and draws wavy lines with her fingers. Simon smooths her hair and kisses her temple, and smiles at her with half-lidded eyes. She rolls closer to take advantage of his warmth and pretends they both don't have places they'd rather be.


End file.
